Main image:
Models backstage at Gareth Pugh.
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

Wed 19 Sep 2018 13.11 EDT
Last modified on Wed 19 Sep 2018 13.16 EDT

Burberry

Tisci’s debut was the most-anticipated moment of LFW, and the Italian designer delivered a show that was pronounced a resounding success. Tisci said he wanted it to be a celebration of eclecticism and a move away from the streetstyle that he helped invent. The Guardian’s Jess Cartner-Morley decreed the “serene and ladylike pieces” the collection’s winning looks. Read her review
here.

JW Anderson

Hailed as his best in seasons, JW Anderson delivered a highly covetable collection that was at once experimental, artisanal and easy to wear. Famed for his emphasis on craft, several processes were celebrated with the crocheted and macrame pieces leaving a lasting impression.

House of Holland

Henry Holland said his muse was the morning commuter on the London underground – hence his models storming the runway like women on a mission. This was full of all the high-level energy and brazen attitude for which the London-based designer is famed, which this season came by way of neon suiting, slouchy shellsuits, all-over diamanté and sporty drawstring dresses.

Alexa Chung

No stranger to fashion week, Alexa Chung made her debut on the official schedule with her eponymous label. Arrivals and Departures was the name of her collection which will please those with a penchant for 70s-inspired suiting and wear-anywhere dresses (the latter came with a postcard print of Brighton and Margate, natch from this British style icon).

Rejina Pyo

As far as designer accolades go, possessing the ability to tap into exactly what people want to wear is up there, and one easily bestowed on Pyo. The designer’s SS19 offering oozed confidence, from the whipstitch-trimmed leopard-print skirt suit, to the tiered rainbow-hued dress and perspex heels in between.

Supriya Lele

Lele’s Indian heritage looms large on the designer’s moodboard, but so too does her upbringing in Britain. The resulting collections show – as she puts it –
“fashion as a bridge across borders and cultures and times”. This season for her first solo show (she used to present with the Fashion East collective) she incorporated delicate sari embroidery into knitted bras and crafted sheer layers of chiffon and tulle into sporty silhouettes.

Roksanda

From the hothouse sunset hues to the dreamlike embroidered silk dresses, Roksanda was in optimistic mood. This season her hallmarks – the long-length crew-neck dresses and bright block colouring – sat beside new additions in the form of illustrated prints that added a modern and arthouse spin to her sophisticated signatures.

Emilia Wickstead

The bigger the better at Wickstead this season, where we saw collars, shoulders and bows all exaggerated to retro effect. Alongside the florals and dinner-party dresses (with which Wickstead has made her name) came her take on city shorts and sexy jumpsuits, delivering something for everyone.

Matty Bovan

The toast of the London fashion week scene, Matty Bovan was back and in top form this season. Joyful and optimistic were words the designer used backstage to describe a collection that featured the boldest of ballgowns (we will go to the ball) which were brilliantly and unapologetically unique. The collaboration with milliner Stephen Jones topped things off perfectly.

Ashish

Ashish was in a party mode this season - although given that the designer is famous for his head-to-toe sequin looks, when isn’t he? For spring/summer 2019, however, he has created a collection that is specifically inspired by the kind of sweatbox clubs that require sequinned vests with spaghetti straps intended to slip off your shoulders and tasselled dresses designed to add drama to the dancefloor. Where’s the guest list?

Gareth Pugh

A cold climate, a catwalk covered in an earthy-smelling soil and an intimidating soundtrack only made the experience more epic at Pugh’s show. Famed for his performative presentations, this was no different. The clothes came down the catwalk in the form of big, bold silhouettes with perilous platforms to match and while enveloping trench coats in myriad form were the main sartorial takeaway, red and black was the prevailing palette.

Peter Pilotto

Opulent, louche and drenched in disco decadence, designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos were in full-on retro glamour mode. French Gallé glass is said to have inspired the collection, with “its frosted splendour, botanical cameos, and fantasia of pearlescent colour” cited as their starting points.

Markus Lupfer

As pretty as a picture, Lupfer made a departure from the bold motifs we are used to seeing and created a romantic world of pleats and petals for spring. Cornflower blues, sherbetty pinks and lavender blues formed the palette of this diaphanous and feminine affair.

Preen by Thornton Bregazzi

Layers of lace, ruched and ruffled satin and the delightful clash of ditsy floral prints - it must be Preen. This season husband-and-wife duo Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi had escapism on the brain as well as a desire to make a collection that spoke to “the spirit of a Nomadic lifestyle, the desire to escape the normal, how we are all searching for our place in the world and trying to fit in or stand out”.